Uso dos recursos naturais e sazonalidade no estuário amazônico: estratégias e gestão dos produtores de açaí

Abstract

The dissertation includes a socio-economic and ecological-environmental perspective in order to identify and understand the answers found by the producers of açaí to improve the way of life to social, natural, and environmental disturbances in the Amazon estuary ecosystem. The research was conducted in five communities in the Islands Abaetetuba, Pará - Brazil. The sample was obtained by the technique of snowball, and consisted of 120 riverine families. The various procedures (right observation, semi-structured and open interviews, information sheets daily production activities, and development of eco-seasonal calendar), were used to support the analysis, which focused on analyzing the economic strategies of uses natural resources by producers of açaí as adaptive response to seasonal ecosystem. The data reveal that the exploitation and sale of açaí fruits (78%) are the main economic activities of the estuarine floodplain, followed by fishing livelihoods activities (fish: 64% shrimp and 63%), and the extraction of Buriti (36%), which are considered complementary activities in the coastal economy. Situation that at risk by intensifying the cultivation of açaí and tendency to monoculture of the palm and services changing the diversity of the estuarine ecosystem. But these activities are not, however, developed in isolation, but are part of a complex and integrated system of production and diverse use of natural resources, in view of generating more income for families. By adaptation (resilience) generated from living with the changes or environmental and economic (intensification of cultivation of açaí, increasing temperatures, intensification of rainfall, air and water pollution), the disruption strategy of diversifying economic activities will allow riparians have higher annual gross income and improve the quality of ecosystem services (good local climate regulation, increased production of nutrients to the soil, and have higher carbon stocks).